Wolfgang Rihm: Vigil

Vigil is the nocturnal part of the hourly prayers of the Catholic liturgy, which are spread throughout the day. Formally, a vigil consists of a sequence of prayers, psalms and hymns from the so-called Gregorian chant. Also Vigil satisfies the principle of the sequence form: seven times the instrumental and vocal ensembles are used in alternation before they finally act together in the ›Miserere‹. The character of the instrumental and vocal movements is different. The compositional technique of the sung parts brings back memories of the time of the old vocal polyphony, but also of the madrigals of the 16th century. The principles of melody, harmony and rhythm are predominant. With a few exceptions, there are no dynamic prescriptions.

The instrumental movements are different: they represent less an introduction or a commentary on the vocal parts and more a field of tension in which the vocal movements are embedded. The position of the clarinet and the horn, which is spatially separated from the rest of the ensemble, makes this field of tension even more tangible. Here too, though less than in the vocal movements, there are hints of imitation and cantus firmus techniques. These instrumental movements, known as 'Sonata', are characterized by extreme dynamic contrasts in a way that is characteristic of Rihm. The sung texts are in Latin and come from the biblical events of Good Friday and its liturgical-mystical environment.

Vigil is dedicated to the contemplation of Jesus' death on the cross, which is further reinforced by the imagery of the nocturnal. Vigilia evokes brooding, contemplative contemplation. Vigil does not see itself as liturgical utility or art music, but rather shows the position of a person who - although intellectually agnostic - finds himself on a cultural terrain that is deeply Christian. Vigil was performed several times with solo singers. The present version, in which each vocal part is chorally scored by four singers, goes back to my suggestion, to which Wolfgang Rihm was able to agree.

Rupert Huber